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Dark Forest
The Dark Forest is a dank and shadowy forest in northern Serenia. The trees grow so close together that its easy for adventurers to get lost once they enter the forest. It was once home to the Witch of the Dark Forest, a particularly nasty hag. She is now spending the next five hundred years inside of a Genie's bottle thanks to King Graham. Background A dark, twisty and mysterious wood situated in the northern part of Serenia. it is said that no one who enters there can ever leave without making friends of the elves, shy and elusive little people who live both among misshapen trees and grotesque fungi, and below the forest floor. It is reported that few who enter there ever return, alive or otherwise. An evil and jealous witch once kept her house there until she attempted to get the better of King Graham. She is now imprisoned in a genie's bottle for the next 500 years. Her twisted house presumably still remains, but no one in the region seems to have volunteered to enter the woods to find out for certain.KQC, 2nd Edition, pg 455 Strange and misshapen plant-life grow on the decaying forest floor, including, crooked trees, fungus and man-eating plants. Toads (the unfortunate victims of the spells of the old witch) hop around the forest trails, and act to warn those venturing into its depths. The eyes of creatures can be seen blinking near the trails, be they the eyes of unknown monstrous creatures, or simply curious elves spying on forest intruders. The elves are of a manikin race of elves, small of stature, known as "grey elves, they live in underground caverns beneath the forest. Sometimes the strange creature known as Rocky, is known to block paths in the forest making it even harder for adventurers to find exits. Deep in the forest lies the Heart Tree near a pile of bones of unfortunate adventurers, and witch's house is surrounded by a deep and fiery crevasse that opens up to Hades itself. Behind the scenes The Sierra BBS Hint System referred to this forest as the ''Witch's Forest''TOBOKQ3E, pg. There is a dark part of the forest in KQ1SCI, however this does not appear to have any official name. An issue of Nintendo Power referred to this as The Forest, and another issue referred to at least the entrance to it as the Forbidden Grove. The KQ5 NES box also referrs to it as the Black Forest, or at least to the with as the Black Forest Witch. Function In-game Once Graham enters the forest, he is presented with a forked path, and a choice of going right or left. Once Graham takes either path, he will then be stuck in a six-screen loop which he cannot escape until he defeats the witch, raids her house, and befriends the small elves that watch him from the bushes in the northwest corner. If Graham fails to acquire items he needs to escape the forest, or simply spends too much time wandering, he may be killed by either the carnivorous plants or a black widow spider which drops down on him from the forest canopy. Graham can also be killed by falling into the fiery chasm surrounding the witch's house. Graham can also reenter the forest after leaving it and escape using the same route as before, though this serves no purpose unless he needs to acquire an item from the witch's house. References Category:Forests Category:Places (KQ5) Category:Places (TKQC) Category:Places (KQ5NES) Category:Places (QFD)